The Kitchen Next Door opened in February, part of the CitySet development that is Glendale’s attempt to drive some of Denver’s dining traffic its way. Take that, Cherry Creek, you can practically hear the enclave’s leaders say with long-simmering kid-brother envy.

This new restaurant, too, is a sibling of sorts: It is an offshoot of The Kitchen Boulder and The Kitchen Denver, two dinner-crowd rooms with ambitious menus and the kudos to back them up.

The Kitchen Next Door, part of the expanding Kitchen group, has a different agenda. Like its predecessor, the Kitchen Next Door Boulder, it has an easygoing atmosphere and lower-key menu. It is one of those places where the happy-hour vibe continues long after the discount drinks are stoppered until the next day. (3 to 6 p.m., for the record.)

If you’re seeking towering ambition from a kitchen, look elsewhere. While the food is solid, the menu can read better than it eats.

Two visits found a fun room with friendly staffers who know their food and beverages. They stay abreast of tables without overdoing the perkiness or sitting in your lap.

“Super. While I’m killing brain cells with fermented beverages, can you wash and detail my car?”

The Kitchen Next Door is largely fulfilling its mission, starting with its look. Open and airy, the dining room features three windowed walls in full let-there-be-light mode.

The floor is a mix of large wooden community tables, two- and four-seat high-tops, and a few booths. The décor is drawn from a muted palette, with lots of white subway tile and some gray tones. Behind the bar, a large square column houses gleaming beer taps, injecting color thanks to pea-green tile.

What emerges from the kitchen shows some creativity, albeit with mixed results. Nothing was an outright fail; neither did anything truly wow. Hit-or-miss can occur on the same plate.

The vegetarian antipasti ($8.95) was a case in point. It looked lovely: Twin mounds of roasted beets and carrots, hummus dusted with paprika, soft pita pockets, marinated beans. The root veggies were under-flavored, despite the carrots’ billing as cumin-seasoned. The hummus was OK if a tad dry, even with a slick of olive oil. Thumbs up to the beans and their vinegar zip.

We enjoyed a small plate of bacon-wrapped dates, the fruit chewy and the bacon cooked to retain just the right amount of fat.

I also liked an excellent chicken-and-quinoa soup bolstered with potatoes. It had real depth of flavor and was seasoned with the trinity of chopped celery, onions and carrots.

A Cuban sandwich was the proper balance of roasted pork and sweet ham, assembled with the requisite Swiss cheese, mustard and sliced pickles, then pressed. Good, but it didn’t make me forget the version at Cuba Cuba Sandwicheria, which also resides at CitySet with Jax Fish House, Big Smoke Burger, Udi’s and others.

Two entrées were undercut by their side sauces.

Fish and chips came with pollock chunks, lightly breaded and crispy. But the tartar sauce, which resembled a remoulade, was a jolt of salt.

Grilled hanger steak was medium-rare, sliced on the bias and paired with a tangle of peppery, oiled arugula. However, the chimichurri was loaded with so much mint that even a slight dip undercut the steak’s perfect char. Better to save the mint for lamb and use the sauce’s traditional flat-leaf parsley.

But garlic smashers were a great side for both entrées. Yukon Gold fingerling spuds were boiled and fork-mashed before an oven finish. The result was crispy skin and meaty flesh, dusted with garlic and parmesan. Potato perfection and reason enough for a take-home box.

The Kitchen Next Door does a brisk bar business, thanks to a good draft beer and wine list with rotating specials. The house white was a bargain at $6 a glass; a $7 Tenuta Rosone red had a soft finish and went well with beef. Nice prices, too, on the cocktail list: House mules, mojitos and margaritas are $5.95. Soda snobs, and we know who we are, will applaud the Mexican Coke and Sprite.

The Kitchen Next Door isn’t destination dining, but is a fine addition to the happy-hour scene. Stop by.

William Porter: 303-954-1877, wporter@denverpost.com or twitter.com/williamporterdp

Restaurant critic William Porter is a feature writer at The Denver Post, where he covers food, culture and people. He joined the news outlet in 1997. Before that, he spent 14 years covering politics and popular culture at The Phoenix Gazette and Arizona Republic. He is a native of North Carolina.

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